Colibri Quasar SV-Cut | halfwheel

• It Can Be Used As a Cigar Rest In a Pinch — It turns out that the opening between the two pyramid-shaped protrusions is the perfect place to rest your cigar if you don’t have another option handy.
• Fairly Easy to Clean — As shown in the video, the plate is removable for cleaning. My only real issue here was that it was tough for my fingers to get in the notches, but eventually I realized I could open the blades and then remove the plate by grabbing it from the side. Once the plate is removed, it’s very easy to clean the cutter.

THE BAD

• The Backplate Makes It Difficult To Tell How Much Of The Cap Is Being Cut Off  — When using the straight cut option, I have to bring the cap forward to cut off less of the cap. However, since I can’t see how much I am cutting—because of the closed-off case—I have to guess every time, with predictably inconsistent results. This is not as much of an issue with the v-cut portion of the cutter, but overall, the inclusion of the backplate is a net negative.
• The Backplate Is Mostly Decorative and Actually Makes Getting Good Cuts Harder — Someone is going to destroy a cigar thinking that this backplate is supposed to function like a normal one. Yes, it’s obvious to me that it’s not supposed to be used as a guide to limit how much of a cap to cut, but for newer smokers, this is a recipe for disaster.
• The Large Amount Of  Space Between The Blades And The Backplate Means Tobacco Shards Stay Inside The Case — Sure, it is super convenient to be able to open up the case and clean it out any time I like, but this is mostly a self-created problem. Without removing the back, it is next to impossible to get all of the pieces of tobacco out of the cutter. While I did not clean open up the case and clean it out every time I used the cutter, I had to do it after I had cut about five cigars, or the amount of tobacco remnants left inside would fall out every time I opened it, even if I knocked some of the tobacco out through the openings.

• While Using It As a Cigar Rest, the Paint Came Off — The first time I used this as a cigar rest, the paint around where the lit foot of the cigar was resting basically burned off. Interestingly, the damage has not gotten worse since then, meaning the paint has not continued to flake off after the damage occurred. What’s strange is that I made sure not to have the burn line hanging off the cutter, meaning it wasn’t fire that removed the paint, but heat. Colibri makes Quasar ashtrays and even another cigar cutter that do not have issues with the paint burning off due to being used as a cigar rest.
• And then the Cutter Started Smelling — After using it as a cigar rest, the cutter had a noticeable odor, not of cut tobacco—which is what I expected—but of burnt ashes. Even after smoking and heading to my office, where I don’t smoke, the smell was strong enough that Charlie could smell the cutter’s odor from a few feet away.

THE COMPETITION

The Trident by Caseti ($110) not only features a guillotine cutter and a v-cutter that can both handle up to a 60-ring gauge cigar but also has a punch cutter that folds out from the base of the cutter as an added bonus. Arguably the larger bonus is that it doesn’t have the decorative backplate. Between the two, I would take the Trident due to its smaller size, lack of a backplate of any sort and the added punch cutter.

Note: the Porsche Design P’3626, which I reviewed here, is virtually identical to the Trident except that it was more expensive and has been discontinued.

Additional Competitors:

• Colibri SV-Cut ($75) — The original version of the SV-Cut is a bit cheaper, but it is also 20.8 percent heavier and 11 percent thicker than the Quasar SV-Cut. Both options cut cigars great, but I would pay the slight premium for the Quasar SV-Cut due to its overall look, lighter weight and ease of cleaning, which is still better than the original SV.
• S.T. Dupont Double Cigar Cutter ($209) — Although this cutter is more than double the price of the Colibri, there are quite a few similarities: both cutters feature the same basic design when it comes to the cutting options, and both cutters give excellent results at actually cutting cigars with each of their respective blades. Like the Trident, the S.T. Dupont does not have a backplate but the Colibri is available in more color options and can be used as a cigar rest if needed. The Colibri is about half the price of the S.T. Dupont while giving very similar results and I don’t think the improved visibility of the S.T. Dupont is worth double the price.
• Vertigo Omni Twin Cutter ($99.95) — If the triple option Trident wasn’t enough for you, this cutter adds a second punch for a total of four options: straight cuts up to 64-ring gauge, while an “extra deep” v-cutter that is also able to cut 64-ring gauge cigars, a 6mm punch and an 8mm punch. I have not reviewed the Vertigo yet, so I can’t give an opinion on which cutter I would choose.
• XIKAR Flip Dual Cigar Cutter ($84.99) — The design of this cutter is more in line with the original Colibri SV-Cut, in that it features a straight cut and v-cut blade on either side of the case, both of which can cut cigars up to 64-ring gauge. It is offered in seven colors, but it is also thicker and heavier than the Colibri Quasar SV-Cut. Once again, I have not used this cutter, so I don’t have any advice about the two.
• XIKAR VX Key Chain ($44.95) & Craftsman’s Bench Double Blade Cutter ($4) —  Instead of one product, why not two? Both the XIKAR and the Craftsman’s Bench together cost less than $50 and are extremely portable—the XIKAR attaches to my keychain after all—while also not taking up that much room or weighing down my pockets. And while both will give me very good cuts, I still have to have two products with me, and both the XIKAR and the Craftsman’s Bench suffer from minor physical damage when carried around. Having said that, even with the price difference, I would still choose the Colibri based on the fact that it is only one product and thus easier to keep track of.
• Visol Joplin ($80) — If the Vertigo’s four cutter options weren’t all-in-one enough for you, how about a quad-flame torch lighter features four different cutters: a guillotine cutter that can cut cigars up to 60-ring gauge, a v-cut cutter positioned on the other side that can also cut up to 60-ring gauge cigars, a 5mm punch and a 7mm punch. But wait, there’s more. The Joplin also has a cigar poker that extends from the right side and a cigar rest is built into the top of the lighter. While the Joplin has more options than the Colibri and is a bit cheaper, it is also significantly heavier and has a much larger footprint. I have not formally reviewed the Visol Joplin, so I can’t give an official opinion on which I would choose between the two options.

SHOULD YOU BUY IT?

Yes.

After testing this cutter for about a month, I can tell you that it performs its primary function—cutting cigars—with very few problems, regardless of which cutting option I chose. Having two different cutting methods in one easy-to-carry product—both of which can cut cigars up to at least 60-ring gauge—is great. As much as I love the look of the backplate and its utility as a cigar rest, it’s difficult to get around the fact that every bullet point in the cons section is related to the backplate, even if they are fairly minor issues in the overall scheme of things. Removing the backplate would solve those issues, but the unfortunate outcome of that action would be to turn the Colibri Quasar SV-Cut into just another cutter from a visual standpoint.

Brooks Whittington

I have worn many hats in my life up to this point: I started out as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, then transitioned to photographing weddings—both internationally and in the U.S.—for more than a decade. After realizing that there was a need for a cigar website containing better photographs and more in-depth information about each release, I founded my first cigar blog, SmokingStogie, in 2008. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars, and it was one of the predecessors to halfwheel, which I co-founded.